First Day of School

I was the nervous one. Ari was excited to start school, even jumping out of bed to get dressed.

But these were my fears in no particular order: that I would oversleep — I rely on my internal clock to get up — that he would poop in his pants at school (he is not potty-trained), that he would cry, that a million things would go wrong. Nothing came to pass, except that I forgot to pack a drink with his lunch. I stuck around for story time, distracted him with the trains and then ran off to Whole Foods.

My small talk with the cashier while I loaded the conveyor with like 20 kid-sized boxes of juice: “I forgot to pack my kid’s drink.”

Cashier: “I see that.”

Me: “Are the other moms this clueless?”

Cashier: “I wouldn’t be so hard on yourself. At least your kid’s juice is organic!”

I drove back to the school, at this time the door was shut. I stuck Ari’s juice in his Thomas the Train lunchbox in a cubby hole outside of the classroom. I peered into the little window on the door: Some parents lingered. One mom cried when her own daughter started crying. The teacher held the girl while she encouraged the mother to leave. Ari calmly sat with two other boys to play with the trains. The chaos didn’t faze him.

I was so proud of him. Proud that my husband and I raised such an independent boy who has a variety of interests from trains to books, is curious, and hopefully, will overcome his “sharing issues.” While the other parents stood around to chat, I pumped my fist in the air and squawked, “Home free, baby!”

I can’t wait to hear about his day when I pick him up at one. Fellow MotherTalkers, please do post back-to-school photos of your little ones. Don’t let me steal the spotlight!